Napoleon Bonaparte apparently mentioned: “A military marches on its abdomen.”
The French emperor didn’t have the luxurious of rail journey in his day, however the precept stays a sound one.
So once I climbed aboard the D910 sleeper prepare to Beijing West railway station at 6.24pm final Saturday, my first intuition was to seek out the eating carriage even earlier than I settled down.
The eating carriage displayed an extended listing of meals and drinks, starting from 15 yuan (US$2) for a spicy rooster rice dish to an affordable 68 yuan for a stir-fried beef meal.
I guessed the full of fifty decisions would be capable of fulfill just about each style over the 12½-hour journey.
Nevertheless it was not till I returned from Beijing to Hong Kong on the G79 high-speed all-seater prepare on Monday at 10am that I acquired to expertise the distinctive eating expertise, the place piping sizzling dishes are delivered straight to the door.
Passengers can order their most well-liked dishes by the prepare’s service platform – the 12305 app – two hours earlier than the prepare departs from the cities it travels by and makes stops.
Different meals supply operators additionally supplied mini programmes on WeChat to cater to hungry travellers.
The eight-hour Beijing-to-Hong Kong prepare stopped at Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou East, Wuhan, Changsha South, Guangzhou South and Shenzhen North, working largely at 348km/h (216mph) throughout my journey.
With a Publish photographer and video producer with me on the journey, we ordered Wuhan’s signature sizzling dry noodles, or re gan mian in Mandarin.
It’s a bowlful of springy spirals coated in a thick brown paste of toasted sesame seeds and sauce with fiery purple pepper and pickled greens, served with beef or dumplings.
We additionally ordered chilly milk tea from Changsha together with 20 journalists from different media organisations on the identical journey.
To my shock, a supply employee with a trolley filled with takeaways was already ready on the station platform because the prepare arrived.
Two crew members from my carriage collected round 50 baggage of meals at excessive pace and had been again on the prepare earlier than the doorways closed.
The noodles served had been nonetheless sizzling, and the milk tea was icy.
I used to be amazed on the effectivity and the way they distributed the meals in accordance with seat numbers, which ensured an organised and handy eating expertise for passengers.
Estimates by Guangzhou-based iiMedia Analysis counsel China’s meals supply market reached a staggering worth of 1.5 trillion yuan in 2023, 2.3 instances its dimension in 2020.
It’s a large market. However, for me, the way in which meals supply has permeated the lives of individuals on the go, offering the final word comfort for prepare passengers, is astounding.
The creativity and expertise behind it are actually mind-blowing.
Trying again, throughout my journey to Beijing on the sleeper prepare, I did discover some passengers consuming meals that was not from the eating carriage.
I realised that they had additionally ordered takeaways and picked up them at Shenzhen North and Dongguan South stations, the primary two stops for the Beijing prepare.
However I’ve to say I’d not select an extended prepare experience if the flight time was considerably shorter. However the prepare eating expertise was one thing that an in-flight meal simply can’t compete with.
Subsequent time, I’ll order meals deliveries from each prepare cease earlier than the vacation spot.